Visiting Cuba at the Right Moment
For some time now, my dad and I have had a shared general interest in visiting Cuba. Yes, as he would undoubtedly tell you if he were co-writing this, his interest came first…born of a love of food and the Buena Vista Social Club. My interest came later and was rooted more in the novelty of traveling to a country that had long been “off-limits” to most US travelers and in seeing a country that had been described as preserved in time.
Cuba was something we’d mention to each other from time-to-time, but never with the intent of making a concrete plan to visit. Until March. Around my birthday in early March, my dad mentioned that he had seen cheap tickets to Cuba from Florida, and asked if I would want to go while I was visiting them in Florida. “Yeaaah, I’d go,” I told him with a mix of uncertainty if this was a serious idea and excitement at the prospect that it was.
A few days later, I arrived in Florida for my visit. I’d be there for a few weeks, but told him if we were really going to do this, we should go ahead and commit. So, on March 9th, we hatched a last minute plan, and booked a flight for a four-day trip to Havana…on March 15th, my dad’s birthday and less than a week later. There was a little bit of hustling to get prepared, but we’re both the type of personality that can be fueled by adrenaline and enthusiasm.
As I explained here, as US Citizens there were still rules governing our trip and I was a little nervous. We went via a people-to-people general licensed, but on our own, not through a formal tour. The core requirement of that exception is that the traveler engage in “exchange activities that will result in meaningful interaction between the traveler and individuals in Cuba.” (31 CFR §515.565(b)). I can unequivocally say our trip met that purpose.
We stayed in a middle-class neighborhood surrounded by local Cubans, not tourists. Our days were filled with conversations with Cubans, in cabs, on the streets, in line at the bank. We learned about people’s lives, their families, their goals, their opinions. We learned about the country’s history, from people that had lived it. I, was particularly struck by how difficult the 1990s were for Cubans when the collapse of the USSR left the country isolated and alone. I was previously completely ignorant.
Side Note: Book I want to read to learn more…
We saw how Cubans live in Havana. We saw how hard basic supplies can be to come by even for Cubans that have the money. We gave toothbrushes and toothpaste that we had brought to people we interacted with and the enthusiastic, positive responses we received in return made us wish we brought more.
We did go to Habana Vieja (“Old Havana”) and got a daiquiri at El Floridita, Hemingway’s old stomping ground. But those touristy excursions were only a very small percentage of our trip and they made us appreciate the rest of our experience and the timing of our trip even more (before the entire city becomes too touristy) even more.
Now, just two months later, it is unlikely we could go on the same trip again. At the end of last week, Donald Trump announced a re-tightening of regulations on travel and commercial with interactions with Cubans that included a narrowing of the people-to-people exception to once again prevent individual travel under the exception. As always, I am sure that creative and gutsy Americans will resort to work-arounds like the long-standing approach of traveling to Cuba via Mexico. But I wish it didn’t have to be that hard or risky. It is disheartening.
There’s a mutual benefit that comes from Americans and Cubans interacting serendipitously in daily life. Being forced to travel in tours, that can be quite pricey, will financially prevent some Americans from being able to travel to Cuba and it is likely to limit the natural interactions that Americans have with everyday Cubans.
I also think that if the goal is, really to help encourage a more free or democratic Cuba, it is better to encourage travel to Cuba than to restrict it. It is unlikely that the US can leverage travel or other commercial restrictions into getting the Cuban government to change – we tried that for 50 years! Its cliché but huge change has to come from a desire within and my opinion is that interacting with visitors from other countries, like the US, and learning about their lives is more likely to stoke that desire than these restrictions.
All-in-all, this sudden change in Cuban travel policy for the US, makes me appreciate our March father-daughter Havana trip even more. It’s also a gentle reminder about how quickly life can change. It is easy to get in the habit of acting as though tomorrow will be like today – that the same opportunities will be there, that you can hang out with that person tomorrow, that you can plan that trip tomorrow, that you can do something you enjoy tomorrow. Sometimes it’s true, but life changes very quickly and you never know when those opportunities will cease to exist.
The place and the moment you are in NOW will never be exactly as it is. Take a moment…soak it in!!!
Daiquiri at El Floridita because…you have to!
